HODGDON, Maine — SAD 70’s Board of Directors voted Monday to hire Clayton Belanger as interim superintendent starting this summer.
Belanger, a retired superintendent from SAD 24 in Van Buren, has agreed to work as long as the district needs him, Board Chair Estela Lane told those attending Monday’s meeting.
“At this point and time, he is the only name we have to bring forward as interim,” she added.
According to information presented, Belanger will be working three days a week for $250 a day plus travel expenses. The board approved unanimously.
Belanger will oversee the Hodgdon district when current Superintendent Bob McDaniel leaves. McDaniel said Monday he will be available on a limited basis starting the end of June.
McDaniel has served as the superintendent of SAD 70 for the past eight years. Back in January, 2011, SAD 70 and SAD 14 (Danforth) consolidated their central offices to form AOS 48, with McDaniel selected to serve as the superintendent for both school districts.
In October, 2012, McDaniel submitted his resignation, effective at the end of the current school year. Since that time, the SAD 70 school board voted to withdraw from AOS 48, citing an increased cost to its member towns of Hodgdon, Linneus, Ludlow, New Limerick, Amity, Cary Plantation and Haynesville. Those towns then held a district wide referendum Feb. 5 and voted 115-6 to withdraw from the school union.
The SAD 70 school board did not move forward with any plans to fill the superintendent’s position in the hopes that McDaniel would reconsider his resignation once the district pulled out of the AOS. However, McDaniel has stuck to his plans to resign, thus prompting the school board to officially begin its search for a new superintendent.
In other news from the May 13 meeting, the board:
• Received its “report card” from the state which gave both Mill Pond School and Hodgdon High School a letter grade of C. McDaniel said the report is based on test scores, graduation rates and attendance, among other things. Most other schools in the state received a similar rating, he said.
• Approved changing the last day of school to Saturday, June 15.
The next meeting of the SAD 70 board will be Monday, June 3.
